After thirty years living alone in the desert, Mary is discovered by Father Zosima, who had gone into the wilderness to find
solitude. In some variants of the story, Zosima gives Mary his cloak to cover her nakedness (as at
Bourges), while in others, Mary's modesty is
protected by a miraculous growth of hair. This scene appears to show Zosima lecturing the enthusiastic Mary in the finer points
of Christian doctrine.